Steing holder foe musical instruments



(No Model.)

F. SOHWARZBR.

STRING HOLDER FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. No. 351,406. Patented Oct.26,1886.

Inventor FkA/vz 'cawanzen PETERS. Phalaiilhogmplwr, Washilglbll. D. C.

UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE.

FRANZ SOHVVARZER, OF WASHINGTON, MISSURI.

STR-lNG-HOLDER FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 351,406, dated October26, 1886.

Application filed April 22, 1886. Serial No. 199,876. (No model) To aZZwhom it 11mg concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANZ SOI-IWARZER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Washington, in the county of Franklin and State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in String-Holders forMusical Instruments; and I do declare thefollowing to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters andfigures of reference marked thereon,which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to string-holders for musical instruments; and itconsists in the improved construction and combination of parts, as willbe hereinafter more fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a plan View of my improved string-holder applied to azither. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same, and Fig. 3 is anenlarged perspective view of a portion of the holder.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which the samelctters ofreference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures, A representsthe sound-board of azither, having the ordinary head-piece at one endand the bridge B near the other.

0 represents the string-holder, and D the strings.

E and F are two .transverse plates or bars I upon which the holder issupported, and upon which it is secured to the sound-board by means ofthe screws G.

The string-holder 0 consists of a metallic plate of the required sizeand thickness, having a series of semicircular holes or apertures, H,through it. By making the holes semicircular a tongue, I, is left ineach one of them, upon which the ends of the strings can be se cured bymeans of a loop in the end of each one of them. The portions of thetongues and plate against which the strings bear are rounded,so as topresent no sharp corners upon which the strings are liable to be cut orbroken. As these tongues are a part of the plate, they make a verystrong and durable retaining device, as the strain of the strings ispartly borne by the plate, and as they are even with the top and bottomof the plate the holder presents a very neat and tidy appearance.

As zithers are commonly constructed, each string is provided with aknotat one end, which u is passed through a slotted hole in the top orsound-board of the instrument, andsecured by means of a pin put in thehole, which pushes the string into the slot and prevents the .knot frompulling up through. This method is 01)- jectionable, however, thesound-board must 1 be perforated for each string,which affects itsresonance, the knots are apt to slip,which necessitates frequent tuning,and finally, when the knot pulls off, as is apt to be done when thestring becomes worn, it falls into the interior of the i nstrument,which causes a rattling sound until it has been removed. All of theseobjections are avoided by my improved stringholder, as the strings aresecured by means of a loop which will not slip, and if it should happento pull off it cannot enter the interior of the instrument, and it hasbeen found by experiment that the tone of the instrument has beenimproved by using a metallic plate for the string-holder, and securingit to the soundboard by means of screws.

By varying the form of the plate and the mode of attachment violins,guitars, and banjos can be provided with my improved stringholder aswell as the zither, and by making the plate strong enough they can beapplied to pianos, and in fact all stringed instruments.

Having thus described my invention, Iclaim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States- 1. A string-holdcrfor musicalinstruments, consisting of a plate having a series of semicircular holesor perforations, each perforation forming a tongue, and means forsecuring said plate to the instrument.

2. A string-holder for musical instruments, consisting of a metallicplate having a series of semicircular perforations, each perforationcular perforations, forming tongues integral of each of said stringsbeing provided with a with the plate, and means for securing said plateto the instrument.

4. The combination, with the sound-board or top piece of a zither, oftwo transverse bars, a metallic plate, retaining-screws, and a series ofstrings, said plate being provided with a se ries of semicircularperforations, and one end loop. 10

In testimony whereof I my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANZ SCHWARZER. \Vitnesses:

ROBERT Voss, ALBERT ROEBRIG.

